Build Your Own Fighting Robot Without Any Electronics Skills

The Ganker kits don’t assemble quite as easy as Lego bricks do, but that’s because the robots are packed with servo motors, sensors, omni-directional wheels, and even tiny weapons that allow them to battle it out to the death—or malfunction. You don’t even have to dabble in software since the bot can be customized, programmed, and controlled all from a touchscreen smartphone app.

Ganker is nowhere near as complex or powerful as the bots that headline the BattleBots competitions, but for their size they are still able to move with impressive speed, delivering blows to an opponent that are detected by sensors on their armor. Successful hits cause an opponent’s health points, referred to as blood (kind of creepy, we know), to drop until it’s completely drained, making you the victor.

Unlike BattleBots, in which the competitors are often ripped to pieces in the ring, the Ganker bots are a little more gentle when they do battle. But that’s a good thing, because you’d probably hate to risk your $250 contribution to this Indiegogo project when there’s no actual prize money at stake.

With about a month left in its crowdfunding campaign the Ganker has raised about half the funds it needs to go into production, so the usual risks apply here—particularly when this project uses flex funding which means the Ganker’s creators get to keep all the money they raise even if they don’t reach their goal. It’s a little sketchy, yes, but the robot development looks like it’s well past the cocktail napkin sketch.